On the eve of a new era

In the beginning, there was BC (Before Carlyn), followed by AC. And soon we'll enter the era to be known as AM.

And what does one do on the last day of the current era? We were up early to get Carlyn to her last day of school until late September. Thank goodness her school district views this as a special learning opportunity and we were only required to complete one form (well, there will be some homework, too).

Since then, there's been a lot of laundry, organizing, errands, list-making but no frenzy. We started early enough to avoid that. Tonight, amid final preparations, we'll enjoy a dinner of leftovers as we contemplate three weeks of restaurant food. Going out to eat sounds fabulous until you've done it two or three times a day over the course of a week or so.

We'll be up at 3 o'clock for our 6 a.m. flight and will eat breakfast with my nephew and niece-in-law during our 6-hour layover in Chicago.

From there, Tokyo, here we come.

And on Sunday, Maryn begins her last full week at her Social Welfare Institute. We know she'll miss her pals and nannies, but hope she adjusts quickly to her new family.

And when she comes home, she'll have a bright, happy room; a lively and affectionate big sister; and lots of kitties to entertain her.

Maryn's daddy, aunts and uncles, and big sister all slept in this crib.
Jie Jie on her first day of third grade.
Starlight and her son, Holstein. Just 40% of the available cats on the premises.

Testing, Testing

In preparation for posting from behind the Great Firewall of China, I've installed a Virtual Private Network, something I'd never heard of before last week. But in case the VPN doesn't work, I'll try to post via email. And if you're reading this, I was successful!

We're going to China! (and Japan)

After waiting for four years, suddenly, things are happening quickly! We received our consulate appointment two days ago, which meant we could go ahead and book tickets. It also meant that Andy & I needed to make up our minds about a quite-possibly-crazy idea we had: visiting Japan en route to China. This would be part-business, part-pleasure, the business part being that we need to do some research and interviews for the book we're writing.

To make a long story short, we're going to do it! Carlyn will be out of school for three weeks (not counting jet lag), but we hope her teacher and principal will agree that it's an important opportunity.

We'll leave on August 28th, spend nearly four days in Japan, then travel to Beijing on September 2nd. This puts us in Beijing a day and a half earlier than the other families in our travel group, to maximize our sightseeing possibilities. One priority is the Summer Palace; we didn't get a chance to take Carlyn to see it in 2007, and that needs to be remedied.

We will travel to Nanchang and meet Maryn either on Sunday, September 5th or Labor Day! Our littlest sweetheart has only 25 or 26 more nights at the Zhangshu Social Welfare Institute.

We'll be in Nanchang and Guangzhou until the 17th, and will fly out of Hong Kong on the 18th. There is a lot to do, but the 28th can't come soon enough!

We're Approved!

This morning, we received another magical phone call from our adoption agency reporting that our travel approval has arrived from China! This is at least one week earlier than expected!

By next week, we can expect to receive our consulate appointment - the date on which we'll go to the American consulate in Guangzhou, the final step that will allow Maryn to come home with us. And then, we book our flights! Our agency contact tells us that he anticipates departure on September 2nd. That would have us meeting Maryn on either the evening of the 5th or on the 6th. She will be just under six months old!

Now it's time to get really serious about my to-do list.

If you look up the definition of "tizzy," you'll see a picture of me!

Our uncertain timeline

Since we don't yet have a photo of Miss Maryn on her 747 en route to America, this one will have to do. After our long flight home with baby Carlyn from Beijing via Tokyo in April, 2003, we somehow had the presence of mind to ask for a photograph with one of the pilots. Among our many hopes and wishes is that Maryn will be a good flyer like her big sister.

We've been asked frequently about when we'll leave. The short answer is: not soon enough! The other answer is that we don't know but fervently hope it's before mid-September. That's because we'll need two weeks in China to complete the necessary adoption-, passport-, and visa-related paperwork. We need to get out before the October 1 National Day holiday because government offices will close for three days. Beyond that, in October, there is a major, three-week trade fair in one of the cities we need to visit. So, if we don't get into and out of the country before October, our trip might be on hold until nearly November, which would be excruciating.

We sent off our visa applications this week and our adoption agency instructed us to write that the earliest date of arrival in China would be September 1. The travel liaison went out on a limb and said he is hoping we'll be able to depart the U.S. around the 9th. Adoptive families make a science of parsing the statements of their adoption agencies. My reading of his comment is that he's optimistic, maybe even strongly optimistic, about our chances of leaving then. Otherwise, I don't think he'd get our hopes up.

We'd love to be in China for what is called Mid-Autumn Festival, held this year September 22-24. I've made the world's most inauthentic Chinese Moon Cakes, a traditional holiday treat, and would like to taste the real thing!

In the meantime, we continue to think of and pray for our little one, twelve hours ahead of us on the other side of the world.

The Stubborn "Comment" Feature

I just learned by reading a comment on Carlyn's blog that no one has been able to comment on this one! Sorry about that. I'm going to see if I can diagnose the problem now!

New photos of Miss Maryn

Today we received updated photos of our sweetie - an unexpected surprise. Just on Monday, we ordered a care package for Maryn and her caregivers from Ann at Red Thread China .

What an amazing company!

Not only did Ann put together a lovely selection of items, but she requested updated photos and measurements of baby Maryn. And voila! They magically appeared!

Maryn looks like she's strong and thriving. We're told that she now weighs 13 pounds. We're so grateful for the care she's receiving at Zhangshu Social Welfare Institute and can't wait to see her in person!